~ capturing my families' memories

DeFries in Council Bluffs or Hennessey?

This photo fascinates me. I have very few clues as to the history. I know it is from the Brown and/or Reddick side of my family and the older woman in the middle resembles other photos I have of Anne DeVries (DeFries) or Mary DeFries Brown but I do not recognize any of the other individuals.

Anne was born in Uithuizermeeden, Groningam, Holland in 1818 as Anje Jans Bolt. Her first husband was Derk Meinderts Bosch and they had 4 children together. In 1848 she married Jakob Harms DeVries who was born in 1824 in the same area as Anne. Jakob and Anne and 4 children all born in Holland. About 1866 Jakob, Anne and their children came to America and settled in Council Bluffs, Iowa where they lived until their deaths in 1908 and 1905 respectively.

Mary DeFries is Jacob and Anne’s daughter who was born in Holland in 1856. She would have been about 10 years old when she and her family came to America. She married Isaac Brown in 1878 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. They had 8 children, 4 or 5 were born in Council Bluffs, 1 or 2 born in Sumner Co, Kansas and after the family moved to Hennessey, Oklahoma in about 1891 they had two more children. Isaac died in 1902 and is buried in Lacey, Oklahoma. Mary died in 1941 and is buried in Enid, Oklahoma.

Upon close inspection of the photo, the homes seem to not be meant to go together and the glass in the windows is gone. There is a child to the right and several people on the right and behind the houses. There is a lot of debris, which makes me wonder if the damage is the result of a tornado. My husband wonders if it could have been a flood. There was a big tornado in the Council Bluffs area in 1913, which is after Anne died and Mary would have been in Oklahoma. Other photos I’ve seen of the aftermath of that tornado shows snow on the trees and I cannot tell if there’s snow here or not but one of the ladies looks cold but no one is really dressed for the cold. Here’s a link to a page with lots of links about that tornado as well as photos. There was a tornado that hit Hennessey in April 1912 as well as a flood that year.

Do you have any information to help identify the location, people, date or event of this photo?

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2 thoughts on “DeFries in Council Bluffs or Hennessey?”

That’s interesting about the houses – you’d think we’d have noticed the closeness of those houses before. I never noticed the debris; it just looks like cold weather with nothing growing. But the roof on the left house is certainly peeled back. I love your observative nature.

Welcome!

Delving into family stories, documents and photos is what I enjoy! Relative Storyboard: capturing family memories, is my blog where I share and encourage discussion about my findings. Often I only have tidbits of information that I piece together in hopes that one day I'll have a more complete storyboard.
I hope you find something of interest and I need your comments, if you do. So, if you have questions or if we share an ancestor I really want to hear from you. Leave me a comment or contact me at kayzie31 at gmail.com.